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Sunday, August 03, 2014

E-book devotion: Gospel Guerrillas - Mark 1

Taken from my E-book: Challenges to Change Us

Gospel Guerrillas

Mark1:1 The
origin of the Gospel concerning the Son of God, Jesus Christ

Of all the books in the New
Testament, I like the Gospel of Mark the most. It’s very concise and easy to
read. John Mark, the Gospel writer, didn't waste any words, nor did he write
any expanded descriptions of the events in Christ’s life. Like Captain Joe
Friday of the old detective series ‘Dragnet,’ John Mark was only interested in
‘just the facts.’ He wanted his readers to quickly understand who Jesus
actually was and still is – the Son of God.

Mark’s title for Christ might not
mean much to us in church today because we've heard it so often and have
learned to accept it completely. However, in Mark’s day, the title “Son of God”
belonged exclusively to the Roman Emperor, so this was both a radical and
subversive use of the phrase. The fact that John Mark stated this at the very
beginning of his gospel was a very courageous thing to do. He was firmly
putting his faith, reputation, and life in Christ’s hands.

This also meant that any Christians
or churches that possessed a written copy of Mark’s Gospel were placing
themselves in harm’s way. They were ‘gospel guerrillas’ whose Christian beliefs
undermined most of what the Emperor and his empire portrayed – the divine
mightiness, eternal majesty, and infinite power of Rome. It was a definitive
moment for the Christian church. It could both quietly exist as a sub-culture
of the Jewish faith and not bring any undue attention to its followers, or it
could confront the evils in Roman society and challenge the Emperor’s divine status.

Fortunately for us, John Mark and
the other first century Christians chose the difficult path which led to
persecution. In meeting the cultural challenges of their day, the First
Christians changed the history of the entire world. Their consistency and
perseverance has led to our present day Christianity. Just like them, we are
also faced with cultural challenges and serious changes that will affect the
future of our faith.

Questions for personal reflection

Am I prepared to
confront the cultural challenges that society inflicts upon my faith? Am I
ready to stand with Christ as He seeks to change the world?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank You
for the faithful witness of the Gospel pioneers in the First century. Without
their dedication and perseverance, we would not have any faith in You today.
Help us to face the present cultural challenges to our faith and enable us to
overcome them with Your Gospel. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.